Should I pre-exhaust my chest? It's lacking.

[iSwanson]

I'm thinking of using this technique I just have a couple questions.

1. How would this help me build a bigger chest? Doesn't it just allow my tris and shoulders to do more work.

2. Should I lower my weight on my compound exercises and still hit 6-12 reps or try and stay heavy?

3. If I used the peck deck to pre exhaust with 20-30 reps, should I still do my normal 6-12 reps later in my workout?

Sorry I'm just a little confused on how this will promote growth since I will be lifting less weight.

[JWP806]

What are you currently doing as your chest routine?

[iSwanson]

Dorian Yates blood and guts
Decline x3
Incline x2
Fly/pec deck x2

Big focus on slow controlled movements and negatives.

[JWP806]

What are your rep ranges? I'm not a big Dorian Yates follower...

[iSwanson]

What are your rep ranges? I'm not a big Dorian Yates follower...

All within the 6-12 rep range.

[kelkel]

Pre-exhaust doesn't mean extreme high reps to tire yourself out. It means using an isolation exercise to fatigue the primary muscle so that when you follow with a compound exercise the chest actually gives out first, not the ancillary muscles. Meaning in this case the shoulders and triceps.

There are many methods to pre-exhaust. Such as possibly completing flyes first (normal weight-does not have to be high reps) and then doing your pressing second. Hoping at this point the target muscle actually fatigues first, prior to the ancillaries. Or warm up on both your isolation and primary then launch into supersets: eg: isolation immediately followed by compound without resting. Rest & repeat.

Done correctly and with full weight and intensity you will soon know if it targets the muscle in question effectively. Problem is, most people hold back on their isolation exercise knowing their primary is next. That = failure.

kel

[iSwanson]

Pre-exhaust doesn't mean extreme high reps to tire yourself out. It means using an isolation exercise to fatigue the primary muscle so that when you follow with a compound exercise the chest actually gives out first, not the ancillary muscles. Meaning in this case the shoulders and triceps.

There are many methods to pre-exhaust. Such as possibly completing flyes first (normal weight-does not have to be high reps) and then doing your pressing second. Hoping at this point the target muscle actually fatigues first, prior to the ancillaries. Or warm up on both your isolation and primary then launch into supersets: eg: isolation immediately followed by compound without resting. Rest & repeat.

Done correctly and with full weight and intensity you will soon know if it targets the muscle in question effectively. Problem is, most people hold back on their isolation exercise knowing their primary is next. That = failure.

kel

Ok so I just do my normal set and rep range but do an isolation movement first to make sure that my chest is hitting failure before my tri's and shoulders.

[kelkel]

Correct. Either the complete isolation exercise first in your routine followed by your compounds or the supersets as mentioned above. Try them both and put 100% effort into it. Don't hold back on the isolation in fear of it hurting the compound, which is the mistake most people make. Heavy and hard rules the day.

[hellomycognomen]

I like doing two waves of 7-5-3 going up 10lbs per set. I do incline first then flat bench only because I want to hit the upper chest fresh. Try the 7-5-3 and see how it works for you.
Example:
Incline 7 reps 185, rest 3min, 5 reps 195, rest 3min, 3 reps 205, wave one done. Wave two: 7 reps 195, rest 3min, 5 reps 205, rest 3min, 3 reps 215. done now move on to flat bench and do the same but with higher weight as flat bench is typically easier.

You can do more waves but 2 works fine for me. Dont skip on the rest period your CNS needs to catch up to your muscles.
Next week start the wave 10lbs higher, as you can see in a matter of a couple of months your strength should increase significantly.

-Cheers

[iSwanson]

I hit my chest again yesterday. I did 3 sets of the peck deck first. Then decline and incline using the hammer strenght machine so I could really push myself to failure. The last couple of reps I used two hands to get the the weight up on one side and did very slow negatives and was shot after the workout.

The only thing is that I don't ever really feel to much of a pump in my chest like I would in say... my bi's and tris. Do you guys feel a big pump in you chest or just fatigue after hitting failure?

[auswest]

I mix up my rep ranges and also train with high volume, high rep high volume i respond really well to and get an amazing pump from, all my workouts consist of various rep ranges with alot of volume, I leave when my body tells me I have had enough I then hit the same muscle group again 72 hours later, works for me..

I do have a set group of excercises but sometimes I get carried away... Too much pre workout proberly, I only really train like this on my week off from work which is e wry third week, because all I do otherwise throughout the day is eat sleep and sit

When I'm away for work its a different story I only do 20 sets a day on a push pull legs rotation, and stick to a 8-12 rep range

[Frontrow12]

Chest is my weakest body part and I was constantly looking for new routines for it. In the end I worked out consistency is they key. Just pick one routine and stick with it, it'll come! Another thing that I over looked (and questioned at one point) was the "mind muscle connection" that a lot of people talk about. If you're not feeling it, try dropping the weight and really concentrate on trying to squeeze your chest throughout the whole rep!

[m_donnelly]

The only time I don't feel a good pump after pre-exhaustion is when I'm a) overtrained or b) my workout split has become stagnant. Personally, I've never gotten much if anything out of decline presses of any kind as they just don't stress a large enough portion of the chest. EMG studies have shown that decline recruits a small portion of thr chest. But, if it works for you then go for it.

I think you have to hit a lagging body part from every angle along with every little trick to get them to grow. Try this with your chest routine: start out with a set of incline dumbbell presses then move immediately over to barbell incline using the same weight you had with the dumbbells. So, if you're doing 100lb dumbbell presses, toss 200lbs on the bar. I do both sets on the same incline bench for a quick swap. This is an excellent way to stress the chest because it's like a drop set (the barbell incline will be easier) but with the added twist of actually doing a barbell press.

[gearbox]

Train with strict form and do not drop weight in the way down. Work the chest in the way down as much as you do up. And get a spot so you can train heavy and hard. Heavy! Kill the chest with over loading it

[gearbox]

I started Marcus HIT style about 5 weeks ago and I feel great on chest day its heavy and quick. I need a spotter though for a good day.

[johnnylucifer]

Dorian Yates blood and guts
Decline x3
Incline x2
Fly/pec deck x2

Big focus on slow controlled movements and negatives.

Switch out declines for dips. Then do flat bench. Then rotate incline bench in and out of those two.

[cj111]

Dumbells > bench press